Dr. Déborah Benkort
Dr. Déborah Benkort
Matter transport and ecosystem dynamics
ScientistPhone: +49 (0)4152 87-1540
Research interest
My main research interest is the understanding of bio-physical interactions in the marine ecosystem dynamic using modelling approaches. My current research focus on the Barents Sea ecosystem (Arctic region) and to the implementation of sea-ice biogeochemistry and its interaction with the pelagic and benthic food web. I am currently working with the biogeochemical model ECOSMO which is coupled to the regional circulation model SCHISM. During my PhD, my research focused on the krill dynamic in the subpolar region of the Gulf of St Lawrence on Canadian east coast. I developed an Individual Based-Model (IBM) to study growth and reproduction phenologies of krill at different spatio-temporal scales.
Current projects
MiMeMo funded by BMBF/NERC
Closed projects
Production and consumption of krill in the Gulf of St. Lawrence: toward an ecosystem-based stock assessment
Current Position
Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon, Institute for Coastal Systems - Analysis and Modelling, Geesthacht, Germany
Education
| September 2014 – April 2019 | Ph.D. Oceanography, University Laval, Canada |
| September 2011 – September 2013 | MSc. Oceanography, specialty Marin Environment, University of Aix-Marseille, France |
Employment and working history
| August 2016 – September 2016 | Research assistant, Takuvik, University Laval, Scientific Cruise (Amundsen ship) |
| April 2013 – September 2013 | Research assistant, Laboratory of Aquatic Sciences, UQAC, Canada [Master’s Degree Internship] |
- Heath, M.R., Benkort, D., Brierley, A.S., Daewel, U., Laverick, J.H., Proud, R., & Speirs, D.C. (2021): Ecosystem approach to harvesting in the Arctic: Walking the tightrope between exploitation and conservation in the Barents Sea. Ambio, doi:10.1007/s13280-021-01616-9
- Heath, M. R., Benkort, D., Brierley, A. S., Daewel, U., Hofmeister, R., Laverick, J. H., ... & Speirs, D. C. (2020). How is climate change affecting marine life in the Arctic? Frontiers for Young Minds. https://kids.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frym.2020.00103
- Benkort, D., Daewel, U., Heath, M., & Schrum, C. (2020). On the role of biogeochemical coupling between sympagic and pelagic ecosystem compartments for primary and secondary production in the Barents Sea. Frontiers in Environmental Science. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2020.548013
- Benkort, D., Lavoie, D., Plourde, S., Dufresne, C., & Maps, F. (2020). Arctic and Nordic krill circuits of production revealed by the interactions between their physiology, swimming behaviour and circulation. Progress in Oceanography, 182, 102270. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2020.102270
- Benkort, D., Plourde, S., Winkler, G., Cabrol, J., Ollier, A., Cope, L.E. and Maps, F., 2019. Individual based modeling explains the contrasted seasonality in size, growth, and reproduction of the sympatric Arctic (Thysanoessa raschii) and Nordic krill (Meganyctiphanes norvegica) in the St. Lawrence Estuary, eastern Canada. Limnology and Oceanography, 64(1), pp.217-237. https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.11032